Native Villages and Village Sites East of the Mississippi

Native Villages and Village Sites East of the Mississippi

Excerpt

Considering the present condition of Eastern United States, with its great population and wealth, its many cities and industrial centers, wide fields and orchards, all connected by a network of many thousands of miles of railways, it is difficult to visualize the same region as it was a short time ago--a vast wilderness covered by virgin forests, with scattered camps and villages of native tribes standing near the water courses, crossed by narrow trails which often led for long distances over mountain, plain, and valley. Such was the nature of the country traversed by the Spaniards during the years 1539 and 1540, colonized by the English in 1607 and 1620, and explored by the French in 1673. But now all is changed. Many tribes have become extinct and few remain; their towns have disappeared, though often it is possible to identify the sites where once they stood. Fortunately the early explorers and others left records of their journeys, and described the villages reached in their travels through the wilderness. Now many such references to the widely scattered towns have been brought together, and the attempt has been made to present them in such a manner as will reveal the country as it was before the encroachment of European settlements.